URI_Research _Magazine_Momentum_Spring_2020_Melissa-McCarthy

The shark-filled expedition included one week longline fishing in Rhode Island and going out on the charter boat, The Snappa , to swim with blue sharks, and a second week traveling abroad to Isla Mujeres, Mexico, to get up close with the biggest fish in the ocean – whale sharks. Academically, DeLoof says she learned a lot from the class, including presentations from internationally renowned shark experts and training in shark field research methods. “I’ll never forget the field experience, going out early in the morning, the sun still rising, and seeing the fins of hundreds of sharks circling our boat before jumping in with the gentle giants,” DeLoof says. Sharks have distinct life history characteristics, such as slow growth and reproduction rates, that lead to slow population growth. Consequently, negative human impacts on sharks can be detrimental to shark populations, and as an apex predator whose absence would lead to ecosystem collapse, understanding and studying sharks is of utmost importance. DeLoof considers herself lucky to be able to participate in this effort and has since started a Shark Club at the University, with Wetherbee as the faculty advisor. She also spent a semester working with Wetherbee on analyzing tag and recapture data collected on Southern Stingrays in the Grand Cayman Island’s Stingray City. “I gained key skills in data analysis and making and interpreting graphs, and this research will be used to inform those working directly with the animals in the Cayman Islands, examining the outcomes of human interaction with the species,” she says.

One of the most important lessons for DeLoof is that there is a lot that cannot be learned in the classroom. “For me, working with Professor Wetherbee has been about the experience and getting my feet wet in the world of marine science, both literally and figuratively,” she says. “What you experience in the field adds another level to textbook material, providing real-life research experience that will translate to a future career in marine science.”

Bethany DeLoof ’21 Undergraduate Student Marine Biology

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